Guenther played key role in Big Ten/Pac-12 alliance

Wednesday

Dec 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 28, 2011 at 11:01 PM

Former Illini AD brainstormed the idea, Delany said.

John Supinie

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany asked former Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther to brainstorm conference growth without expansion. The result, Delany said during an announcement Wednesday, was a collaboration between the Big Ten and Pac-12 that's essentially conference expansion without the nastiness of stealing teams from another league.

While the pact will include all sports, the biggest impact will likely come in football and basketball. The two leagues plan a 12-game inter-conference football schedule by 2017 that pits each school against an opponent from the other conference every season.

Guenther, who retired from Illinois in June and worked as a consultant with the Big Ten, came up "with a broadly defined collaboration or alliance with the Pac-12,'' Delany said. "We thought about it more, called (the Pac-12). We tracked it together.

"It's just two conferences liking what they have but being open to change and realizing this had quite a bit of growth potential with very little downside.''

In unveling the "collaborative merger,'' the conferences said this wasn't a merger but a creative way of expanding without the collateral damage of exit fees and litigation.

While creating possibilities such as basketball doubleheaders, baseball weekends in Dodger Stadium and a pseudo football challenge between the two leagues that would stretch over several weeks, the powerhouse conferences would also create more programming for their networks. The Pac-12 will launch its network in 2012.

The footprint of the leagues' two networks would cover 15 states with 43 percent of the nation's population and 22 of the top 50 television markets.

Delany already had Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis working on possibilities for the alliance. Hollis was the creator of hockey games in outdoor stadiums and the Carrier Classic basketball game.

"It gets us exposure into the Midwest and East Coast on the Big Ten media platforms, the Big Ten Network and ESPN,'' said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott. "For me, it's a creative way to accomplish a lot of things the conferences seek through expansion without having to expand.''

Scheduling between the two leagues would likely increase quicker in sports other than football, where schedules are contracted years in advance. With one non-conference game each season against the Pac-12 for every Big Ten team, it likely ended talk of a nine-game Big Ten season that was expected to begin in 2017, Delany said.

While other leagues want an easier way to an undefeated season and the national championship game, the Big Ten/Pac-12 alliance increased the value of the regular season, Scott said.

"This will add a tough, high-quality opponent,'' Scott said. "Certainly, it creates a tougher path, but the benefits outweigh the fact it's far more challenging.''

The agreement wouldn't affect the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in basketball in the short term, Delany said.

John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSupinie.

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